For those of you that came in late, The Departed is a remake of Honkywood movie, Infernal Affair starring Andy Lau. Infernal was released circa 2000 was a stellar thriller. Fortunately The Departed has done it justice. Like the original it’s a twisted, sordid thriller of good disguised as bad, bad corrupting the good and so feeds the rich tapestry of life!

In the original, The Hong Kong Triads place a member in the Hong Kong police force and vice versa. This time around, the villians are the Irish Mafia in Boston Massachussets. So most characters (especially Matt Damon’s) talk like Peter Griffin from The Family Guy! Jack Nicholson plays the Irish godfather figure, at the epicentre of both both crime and corruption. Matt Damon plays the cop who rats to the mafia, whilst his nemesis is Leonardo DiCaprio, a straight-edged cop who goes as far as jail time to make himself believable as a mafia henchman.

How this movie differs from the original is in its potrayal of the police. Mark Whalberg (aka Marky Mark) plays one of the grittiest roles of his career, slipping out some choice off colour language as the Police Saraent in the thick of it all. It has to be said he does a damned fine job in playing such a real character. Jack Nicolson, whilst great, is just plain inimitable Jack. I don’t think anyone else could’ve played the mafia boss as well as him. He’s just plain snaky yet likable.

Worthy of praise if the reproduction of virtually all the pivotal scenes and moments of the original. Particularly a rooftop scene, which would be a plot spoiler if I said any more! DiCaprio almost acts out Andy Lau’s original character better than Lau did. 

In summary, this is a movie well worth checking out. For once, an American studio has little to apologise for in reproducing a modern classic. The remake has been rumoured for a while, but thankfully I think they’ve done the original proud. Hopefully it will open a few more people’s eyes to Asian cinema!

5 out of 5. Go Scorcese!